EVE of Amaj
by Sgt-Sparki
Summary: An industrial ship is suddenly assaulted by pirates. Kaydaana, a pod pilot, is onboard and forced to find solutions for their survival before it's too late. The pirates are ruthless and willing to slaughter all just for precious cargo.


Foreword:  
Welcome and thanks for clicking this thread.  
This is a "short"/oneshot-story using characters from my Homeworld fanfiction - Tales of the Vjel-Amaj in the EVE Universe. It has been swarming in my bald head for a long time next to the fact that I needed a short break from it - hence the posting of this story. The Homeworld™ Universe is really not farfetched from EVE's universe. I always wanted to see both of these universes combine. Maybe readers of the other fic might find interests in EVE : )  
While death and destruction plays a role in this fiction, it also features small pranks and mild comedy you know form the game. The story features pewpew but not the gankfest of death as in the game. I try to keep it more on the scale of realism (most of the time). Also, shields do not exist - at least not in the StarTrek'ish wy. This fiction features a bit of lore-bending considering Pod-principles of ships. I apologize for any mishaps in expression, cheesy moments and bouncy plot-flows.  
Just trying to keep the writing warm. I dunno if it is well enough to be continued.

Enough Jibber Jabba!  
Enjoy (hopefully)  
====================================

**Eve of Amaj**

_Red beams and auxiliary lighting illuminated the corridors. Voices shouted from all sides. Rapid steps. Tumbling. Tremors. Cries. Another set of impacts. Loss of balance. KEEP MOVING! She ran like mad. Whatever was going on - She needed to figure it out - NOW! The connected corridors had hundreds of civilian passengers and technicians trying to get just about anywhere. Her hair whipped back and forth. The run itself was uncomfortable for the one who did not have time to arrange the undergarments. Panic and calamity continuously spread with each beat of time._  
Somewhere in deadspace of the Heydieles Star System…  
_Another blow. Sets of secondary girders fell upon the floor. Explosions. Blaring alarms. Distant decompression alerts - thank goodness. Lucky her, the path that she was about to take sealed tight as atmospheric preservation systems prevented yet another catastrophe. But now, she cursed - turned away from the blocked passage. OKAY, THAT WAY! People slipped and stumbled as she dashed forth!_  
There was a path of smoke, debris, gaseous clouds, fluids masses, and separate lifeless bodies; a trail that led to the source in space. The bleeding behemoth cruised forth. The vessel, a hybrid featuring key aspects of a Matari 'Mammoth' transport but with the Gallente schemes and structures of an 'Iteron' industrial ship, was barely able to tolerate the ongoing punishment.  
_Was a __**STUPID IDEA**__ of taking this trip! Bad Karma! Should've known those idiots were going to travel via short-cut! __**I KNEW IT**__! She sprinted forth with each desperate breath._  
Voices of distress transmitted through space, ""- If anybody is out there - Please - Help us! This is the _Napenthae Heavy Cascade Transport_ of the Omega Tausen Frontier Corperation! We are severely damaged! Our position is encoded to the data-stream of this distress transmission!""  
The Napenthae left bled burning trails of smoke - with the unknown swarming its adjacency.

**Part 1 - Bad Karma**  
= Bridge of the Napenthae =  
Another serious impact shocked the ship and its crew. Numbers of damage reports sounded from every corner of the bridge. Every now and then, power fluctuations would briefly blind all eyes by darkness. Sporadic hits distracted the speech of the Captain. He was losing integrity and overwatch. His attention merely bounced from one branch of bridge operations to another. Technically, the ship was blind. Practically all means of surveillance and sensors were disrupted and unavailable.  
Suddenly, the secured rear entry to the bridge opened. A security operative revealed himself, "Captain! There's -! H-Hey!"

Knocking him aside, the swarthy Brutor woman in a rather messy and open uniform busted into the bridge. The security operative argued and tackled the unusual passenger, telling her that she did not have the authority to enter. The woman shouted at him. She was not in the mood of wasting time, "Back-off, ye git! Damn it, Captain! What's going on?!"  
The troubled Vessel Captain looked beyond his shoulder, "Let go of her."

Angrily tearing her shoulder away from him, she arranged her uniform as the Captain stared upon her.  
_Kaydaana Manaan; Blade Commander - or 'Lieutenant Colonel' - of the Kiith Sigmatar, a notable clan of the Republic Fleet and one heck of a proud Brutori pilot. She is a Brutori with fairly long and dark red hair, jade-green eyes and an unusually attractive body for a type like her. Though not such a tall woman, she surely had the stature and attitude to reckon with. Anyone could easily assume that she lacked patience and was not used to speaking the Gallente-Common language. Kaydaana was alike those military types… Those with the big mouths. She was a passenger who chose this vessel coincidentally._  
The Vessel Captain quietly stared at the woman who now argued with the deck operators and other officers. Hearing another correction on the casualty report of the damage control department, he wiped some sweat from his forehead and rearranged his cap. He always wanted to stay out of such troubles; keep safe trade routes and gateways of such. But he was of no choice - and now the entire ship and its people were in serious trouble.  
He shortly looked to his side. The three dimentional status screen of the Napenthae was a frightening and miserable sight. Practically all mainframes were yellow, orange and red. Several segments blinked rapidly, easily catching ones attention that these areas were contaminated with 'death's breath'. Those who were still in these areas were already sentenced to a miserable fate.

_Instincts stung her mind._  
"Whoa… Wai-da-minute", everybody paused, "Serpentis… 'n' Angels…", Kaydaana suddenly mentioned with a cold stare after ending the arguments abruptly. The woman straightened her stance.  
"Now how do know its pirates - even those?! We don't even have close range sensors available! You can bet we're in some meteor shower!", one of the deck officers shouted at her but silenced the moment she threw her gaze at him.  
"And since when do meteor showers constantly hit the same spots? No… _I just know it_."

Kaydaana tightened her fist and took a deep breath. Surprisingly, she had actually panicked just like everybody else. The fears hideously knocked out her common senses. Thank goodness this did not happen in a fighter.  
"M-Ma'am?"  
She shook her head, "Of course, pirates! Plasmatic entropy meltin' the outer bulks? Thermal death waves fryin' the outer decks? Sensory unable to pick up a thing other than a garbled mess? 'plosive impacts, hull penetrations with a cloud spraying hails of death? Radiological matter contaminating various decks on aft?! Hell, I know the roars of impacts. It's _them_. I know that dreadful sound of titanium sabot slicing through decks!"

Just as the Brutor woman ended her speech, the communication officer suddenly announced, "Captain -- She is right. Pirates… I was continuously skimming the frequencies for help just when I detected unusual transmission..."  
The Vessel Captain made hasted steps towards the communication station, "Is that so?! What do they want? W-We will transfer whatever they want. Our assets are insured! We are better off paying than losing our lives."  
"No, Captain. There is no ransom. They have neither hailed us nor are replying to my attempts."  
"Well - What **do** they want?!"

"Yah don't get, Captain?", Kaydaana's accented voice sounded from behind, "We're their prey. We've musta crossed their space. I dunno why these hideous cartels are working together but that is not our problem just now. For the love of her divinity, I don't know where we really are but I know you suckers musta tried some stupid short-cut. Ain't I right?", she pointed her finger at them.  
Feeling another ferocious strike upon the ship, the Captain maintained his silence.  
"Thought so. So we emerged from the jump somewhere in some forsaken low security Star System, eh? Ves-sel-Cap-Tain?"  
"Aye. So it is, Colonel. I was of no choice -- if I may say to my defense", the Vessel Captain notified, "The CEO of my corporation demanded our ship to perform point-to-point jumps between the gravity wells of star systems - rather than using the common lanes and gates in order to maintain the deadlines. Trust me, my crew, Colonel, I protested against this command. However, I was forced to follow the order as my corporate superior onboard would immediately remove me from command and proceed nevertheless. I apologize, Colonel, but we have never expected our emergence point to be allured by a warp distortion field either. I am well aware that jumping through low security constellations is dangerous… but… it was almost as if they were waiting for us. Upon all, our warp core is unable to generate a depleted vacuum field."

"Yeah, a lockdown. We bettah face the obvious, Cap'. They saw us comin' - and I'm sure you've got precious stuff on this boat. And right now, we're their prey."  
"C-Can't we talk to them?!", a frightened woman asked.  
"Don't be foolish, Cadet! They're going to blow us up!", the angered deck officer replied to her.

"Oh, not really - or, 'not just yet' ", a cold shiver ran down Kaydaana's back as everybody nervously stared at her and listened to her words, "They want all that valuable cargo yah got on this ship. I don't care myself about the stuff, but you can bet they are playing with their prey. Even if yah attempt to liquidate the assets, they'll be killing us all off with their ammo before. Y'all definitely don't have enough to patch amount of decompression holes they'll be puncturin' - oh, and unless we have enough hazard suits, I doubt we'd survive the heavy radiation that would flood every deck. Surrendering is simply outta the question. If they wanted slaves, they'd be swarmin' this ships with boardin' parties already."  
"A-Are you saying we're as good as dead?!", the grim deck officer barked.

The Brutori woman was out of answers. Her mouth was open but she simply found no words. She did not want to die either. Not like this, at least - The stories of creeping death wiping out entire crews still scared her. She cursed inwardly. She should have never taking this cheap ticket. The trip to Essence for a long vacation was a great one - but the way back? Right now, Kaydaana wished she never took a step out of her Pod or active duty. Just here and now, she wished she were sitting in her 'Stabbah' Strike Cruiser.  
There was no backup out here. No friends. They were on their own. Weak. Defenseless --  
_Wait a minute! Think!_, her mind shouted. Her instincts told her that while she made haste to the bridge of this place, the corner of her eye spotted something useful.  
_Think - THINK ABOUT IT!_  
"Captain!", the Brutori woman suddenly said anxiously, "Didn't I see some strikecraft container while takin' the long way through the cargo bays?! I could've sworn I saw something!"

"Hm? Well. Wait", snipping his finger at the Logistics Operator, the Captain immediately issued the order to check the cargo assets, "Check it through, but I am not sure what you are looking for, Colonel Manaan."  
The ship once again suffered severe hits. Frights broke the concentration.  
"I just know I saw specific military Gallente symbols on that container unit - and I think I saw smaller ones, too! The Minmatar use similar symbols… such for transporting strikecrafts!"  
"Ah, yes. I recall signing a random courier c-contract!", the Vessel Captain explained after getting on his feet again, "I have not read the details but was it was a large unit to be transported to the same destination as yours."  
"Confirmed!", the Logistics Officer said, "It's a military container indeed, sir! There's definitely some sort of… frigate stored in it. Details aren't clear, though, I guess it was a sloppy work by the deck crews. All I can see here is that it is some frigate in dire shape."

The Brutori woman gained their attention, "Captain, that's our chance!"  
"E-Explain - or wait, you want to dispatch it?"  
"We won't stand a single chance against these pirates harrassin' this industrial slug! They're going to kill us all if we don't do anything! I only see one chance: We need to dispatch whatever we got!", Kaydaana took deep breath and straightened her stance; she was dead-serious, "I'm the only real pod pilot you got on this space tug, Captain, and I don't give a damn whomever that frigate belongs to."

Despite the anxiety, silence shortly filled the bridge.  
"Whatever is in that container, Ma'am, I don't know if we have the means or space to deploy it, let alone launch --", the Logistics Officer explained.  
"That was a special container, man. That frigate surely has it wings folded or something! No, I'm takin' it! Check out those Logistics crates - if yah can find weapon modules or whatever, hook 'em up! I should be able to use the pod that is inside. All I need a space suit of some sort! Anyone will do!"  
The Captain was out of any viable solutions. This was madness. This woman was going to take on all those pirates out there… but alas, he had not much of a choice.  
"Officer."  
"Yes, sir", his First Officer confirmed.  
"I wish to have all our crew potential to be focused upon the preparation of the Colonel's ship. We are not going to survive this if we do not tackle the true problem - those blasted pirate. Have all passengers and crewmen evacuate the outer sectors! Our only hope in avoiding casualties is to bring them into safer interior areas the ship!"  
"Don't worry, Captain! With me around, I'll take 'em down with any ship! You can count on me."  
"… V-Very well, Colonel. I am afraid you are our only hope. Our last hope."  
"Don't worry, Cap' - I'm tha best of the best around here!", the Brutori sounded heroically - masked by the lack of common sense and arrogance.  
_Duh, woman_, the deck officer thought, _you're the only capsuleer on this ship!_

Kaydaana turned around and made her way.  
"Here - Catch!", the deck officer said and tossed an object towards her, "Keep in touch. It's a comm-unit. It should possess enough range for communicating with us outside - as long as they don't blow our communication arrays! I'll be sending all the help we got - but be advised, this is just an industrial ship. None of my operatives know how to handle these military things."  
"Got it, boi. Yah'll here from me!"  
The Matari woman ran off.  
_Great. Now we're counting on a Matari to save our hinds_.

= Lower Cargo Bay =  
The haste to the lower decks was another stressful venture. Waves of casualties and other disorientated crewmen were brought away from the area. Both damage control and medical teams did what they could to assist the people, but the panicking was a serious issue. The reports of harsh conditions made it impossible to save or evacuate everybody.

_Gazes._  
"Y-You said any ship, M-Ma'am", the female logistics operative fretfully mentioned.  
"Anything… b-but a…!"  
Kaydaana stared upwards upon the frigate. There were countless battle scars upon the Gallente schemes of the nimble frigate. All things considered, the frigate was in a very bad shape. The punishment it took some long time ago must have been immense. The smell of burnt material immediately filled the area. Both stood in front of the pod unit.  
"Ma'am, w-we shouldn't stay here for too long. Y'know, this area is, um… _contaminated_. I don't know how long these anti-rad pills will hold so…"  
"Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah! But which one of you silly Gallente freaks put ALL THOSE GUN MOUNTS on that **sorry heap**?!"  
The shy operative raised her hand quietly as she was the only person around while others dealt with the preparations. _Guilty_.  
"Listen, girl, there are some serious things you need to know about combat ships! You just can't put **all sorts of guns** just like that on a ship without knowing the details! I told your guys to maintain the specifics! Didn't you get the orders from them?!", Kaydaana barked.  
"Umm, aye, they said open the containers that had military sigils on them and --", the naive youngster nodded, but then shook her head. She did not understand a single word but looked downwards and spoke slowly, "A-Anyways, Miss Matari… Ma'am, here's the space suit."  
The logistics operative opened the case next to them. The suit was a bulky set; ugly, with beige schemes, cables and smeared marks. Most likely, it was some standard issue industrial suit with thick protective layers and harnesses. Both felt another intensive tremor.  
"Can't waste more time!", Kaydaana yelled and started stripping her clothes to the undergarments. She rushed to put on the layers of the jumpsuit.  
"Um, Miss. Looks like you need to take a look at this pod thing."  
"WHAT?"  
Kaydaana moved closer and took a look. The following startling gaze revealed the next unexpected surprise. _Gods, these Gallente_… This was really a bad timing for surprises like these. The Matari cursed and formed a fist. This was truly **bad karma**.

**Part 2 - Last Hope**

Not much later…  
_Rapid thuds._  
= Outer adjacency of the Napenthae =  
Countless objects were pulled into open space. The gaseous cloud surrounding the bulky objects crystallized and vanished as all things slowly spread out. The pirates ceased their fire as several fields of objects spread from several arcs of the burning vessel. Apparently, the pirates figured that their precious loot was about to drift an endless journey if not obtained. Some of the jettisoned batches were shrouded by debris and smoke.

The Vessel Captain rubbed his chin. Red and yellow signal lights still spun from the ceiling of the bridge. At least the alarms ended their annoying repetitive tones. This was only buying time. Those threatening pirates definitely were not taking this as the fruits of ransom. The anxiety of his crew was just as high as his - Gambling fate with the _last hope_. Ironically, primary surveillance arrays returned to normal, allowing a decent view of the vicinity. Visual aids of the arrays soon allowed to reveal the silhouettes of harassers. All bridge operatives silenced as they quietly observed the outer vicinity. Ironically, there were only a handful of harassers.  
"CO."  
"Yes, Captain?", the First Officer replied.  
"Fire erratic batches of signal flares. Mark XXII and VI. Full spread. She will need it."  
"Right away, sir.

Soon, small spheres of light and 'fireworks' of radioactive matter were fired from various arcs of the Napenthae. While the flares offered minor visual aid, the intensive radioactive emissions reflected upon almost any object in space, allowing any means sensorial arrays to detect and distinguish the silhouettes with ease. All eyes soon were able to discover what phantoms were haunting the space upon their screens.  
The eyes followed what caught their attentions: A cruiser… several kilometers off the starboard side of the damaged vessel and another batch of frigates orbiting their prey. Now a group of dots appeared… Small entities of artificial intelligence… Drones. Batches of drones approached the various groups of loot that slowly distanced themselves from the largely vessel.  
Separate logistics drones met formations with the pirate frigates that were investigating the fields of loot. Scavenging, scanning, buzzing signals. The mechanical snoops would hover before groups of loot, randomly snatch whatever valuable with their little arms and fetch the small hulks back to their 'masters'. They were extremely effective but a few seemed to have problems scanning those loot fields within radioactive shrouds.  
As moments went by, a specific object in a field of sporadic containers and junk soon crossed the border of the shadow that was thrown by the smoke and the huge behemoth. The flares and the distant celestial star finally allowed the bare eye to see beyond. Silently, the object drifted along the herd.  
Two frigates were approaching. Snooping. Scavenging.

The 'pod' proved to be a tight "two-seater". The term 'squeezed alcove tin can for one and half' was well known for such typical Gallente training pods. It neither featured any extraordinary high-tech features nor truly advanced equipment. Neither was this a true pod nor was she alone. Back then onboard the Napenthae, she did not have a choice. Due to the serious atmospheric instability that was about to occur, Kaydaana was unfortunately forced to grab the closest person available for the job while the other viable people ran off like a scared flock of birds. _Those cowards!_

_Keep cool! Keep cool! Stay vigilant! Stay sharp! Don't panic! Keep cool!..._, Kaydaana's mind frequently repeated. _Thumps. Loud thumps. Unease. She trembled._  
The thoughts followed the wisdom that was gained throughout various experiences in such situations. The reality, however, was the opposite. She was dreadfully anxious as the phantoms of death were slowly approaching. Even this experience pod pilot was frightened. The fright and tense was so intense that any being would want to cower, bit nails, fiddle with hair or do anything that dealt with bad habits… but how was one to do this in the utmost cumbersomely space suit. Luckily, the suits were effective enough to hinder the protective shell from catching vapor. Kaydaana could do nothing but pause, letting her fingers tremble upon the handful of buttons and triggers. Back in space again... soon to take on the tough foes.  
Privacy was impossible in this little mechanical pouch. Nervous poundings sounded faintly from her and behind; hard and frequently due to the aspects of their suits and the sealed environment of the compartment. The audible noises of heartbeats were simply possible due to the true fact that they were both enveloped by fluids. The clear fluid itself was not advanced either but comprised of basic viscous shock-absorptive liquids that surprisingly did not hinder movement at all. Kaydaana preferred to use a suit since she never liked that disgusting taste and everything else about the sticky solution and breathing its life-supporting mass. Maybe the stories of pilots drowning in it due to failures of its filtering systems were her actual reasons.  
Tsuji, the naïve logistics operative, petrified as she stared forth. The two frigates were approaching them. They were coming.

"**NOW!**", Kaydaana barked.  
Reacting to her barking command, Tsuji shrieked and engaged all controls that dealt with the frigates power plant. Power induced all arcs of the frigate, allowing Kaydaana to deploy all wings and stabilizers. The surrounding arcs of consoles and screens came to life.

""Naw. Nothing here, boss.""  
""Keep searching, fools!"", the harsh voice of an unknown pirate barked over the channel, ""These weaklings ought to have more valuable stuff. Continue with the search. When you're done --""  
""What the --""  
Suddenly, a series of tracers and violent explosions took place. A death cry sounded loudly and caught the attention of everybody within space. Before anybody was able to react, the second frigate suffered a single wrecking blow. It was an object that flew at blinding speed; perfectly penetrating the ventral fuselage and exited the dorsal region with mechanical and biological parts, leaving a lifeless frigate behind that just powered down.  
The pirate group immediately broke away.  
The Gatling barrels ended their spinning cycle, followed by the Carbide Railgun automatically jettisoning a depleted shell and charging the next Tungsten hybrid slug. Performing a cartwheel and rotating out of the field of debris, jettisoned containers and smoke, a battered figure swung its exteriors like a bat.

Ending its roll, the outer stabilizers halted the frigates drift, adjusting the stability with periodical vernier thrusters. Although Kaydaana maintained the primary controls, her nervous 'volunteer' was also responsible for the precision units. The Matari really hated these split functions. _Why didn't these Gallenteans hook training wheels additionally to this thing_?! Nevertheless, if that woman behind her could keep her wits together and take care of the small things, Kaydaana bet she could actually concentrate on taking these hostilities down after all.  
It took many attempts until the nimble frigate actually achieved a stable position. Kaydaana paused as she spotted the few pirate ships forming up on her screen.  
"Wha - W-Whoa! Th-There's another big ship of theirs!", the young woman nervously exclaimed after Kaydaana caught the ship's momentum again.  
"I know, I know. Had to be, Tsuji. That cruiser is surely jammin' and warp-scramblin' just about anything on that industrial transport. No wonder they're unable to engage warp or see anything", the Matari pilot said, "Aura! Ah crap, I forgot - this stupid pod doesn't have an Aura fitted Tsuji, make a sweep with that 'Eye' on them!"

"R-Right!"  
Operated by Tsuji's hand and Kaydaana's loud instructions, the turquoise eye of the frigate's avionic array moved around and precisely identified the threats.

"So… Three frigates. A standard cruiser… and an interceptor attached to the cruiser's hull. Hmm… I've never seen those types before."  
"But - You shot them down with easy, Miss", the young gallentean woman mentioned.  
"Don't get too cocky, princess. That was pure luck…"

The Matari felt pessimism slowly overwhelming her wits. Kaydaana already blew the surprise attempt and managed to only take down two of the pirates. With them on full alert now, this was going to be the tough fight, if not the toughest in her life. Sitting in an ugly and damaged frigate, armed senselessly by the same mindless person who now sat behind her as a support operator, the odds were seriously against the Matari woman. The power within the pod flickered shortly.  
"This is madness. I told your guys to stick to only one sort of weapon system. This **mix of guns** are killing the capacitors just by a single click!"  
"Uh - s-sorry, boss. I didn't even know what to do. I mean, there was only one of each."  
"*Sigh* Whatever - At least they did their job - and a good one!", Kaydaana commented and shortly looked back and forth on the arcs of their frigate. Four special weapon hardpoints, with two on each side. Tsuji noted that the standard rocket launcher was said to be malfunctioning. She would need to be careful with this powerful weapon, since nobody had the clue what would happen.  
A mangled 150mm Carbide Railgun, loaded with Tungsten slugs. It was amazing how powerful it was. The slug must have mutilated the pilot within the pirate frigate that now lifelessly drifted away. Spotting two recognizable turrets, Kaydaana shook her head. An Afocal Pulse Laser array, loaded with an astonishingly powerful Multifrequency Focus Crystal and a familiarly slick multi-barrled 125mm Gallum Autocannon loaded with Carbonized Lead. The combined use even wrecked havoc. But Kaydaana needed to be careful. The use of the Railgun and the Laser units consumed much power. She hoped that nut of a co-pilot would manage the capacitor's power allocations. At least her manual aim-by-the-naked-eye was precise.

""Ah… A surprise from those foolish weaklings!"", one of the unknown pirates shouted over the open frequencies, ""You don't stand a chance, fool! We're going to get what we want.""  
""GO TO HELL!"", Kaydaana yelled back at them, ""You'll have to get through us first! Try me and you'll end up like your other two buddies!""  
""I don't care - The other two are dead - Which means: More share for us all! Now, KILL THAT Pilot! All of you!""

This was not going to be an easy-going. However, time was going to be her worst enemy. Once that pirate interceptor would be deployed, they would not stand a single chance. Kaydaana needed to hurry. Gathering all her wits, she focused all her hatred upon the three pirate frigates.  
"All right you punks! Here comes the _FAT MAN_!", Kaydaana cried and jammed the combined controls forward. The surge of inertia kicked in the instantaneous response of the thrusters.

"GO FOR 'EM!"  
"We're counting on you!"  
The bridge crew cheered as they saw the gallentean frigate dashing ahead into a deadly fight against three viciously armed-to-the-teeth pirate frigates. The main fusion thrusters burst even more powerfully, hurling the battered Gallente frigate known as 'Tristan' ahead.  
A single sweat pearl ran down the side of the Vessel Captain's forehead.  
_Good hunt_.

*****  
Moments later. A ferocious chase along with a vicious firefight took place. The Tristan was in a serious disadvantage as the attackers engaged it simultaneously. Kaydaana reversely jammed the pedals as the Tristan flew downwards. Tsuji cried out loud as the Tristan spun on its 'foot' as it flew erratically. She held the sides and closed her eyes, hoping this nauseating spin would end sometime. The unorthodox flight luckily disallowed their attackers to adjust their fire.  
"STOP SCREAMIN'!", the Matari yelled, "Divert the damn power back to the lasers! Arm the rocket launcher! Hurry!"  
The second when power was infused into the laser turret, Kaydaana forcefully caused the entire frigate to stop at once by violently pulling the specific controls. Thanks to the scarce gallentean technology on this frigate, the outer extremities of the Tristan flared retro-boosters aimed independently in order to achieve peak effectiveness.  
"*Ngh* R-Ready!"  
Unexpectedly for the chasers, the three pirate frigates dived past the Tristan that surprisingly halted abruptly. Basic crosshairs followed Kaydaana's skillful fingers and thumbs. She aligned the proximity crosshairs, the projected trajectory symbols and other means of targeting aids to her physical perception and mental guessing, hoping that that last bit of sporadic fate known as luck would be on her side.  
With each hand handling the alignments of the paired weapon mounts and Tsuji crying around like a newbie, concentrating was almost impossible. Ironically, Kaydaana was equally unease. She was just as nervous and timid; the action was getting too much for her, but she struggled - People were counting on her. Their lives were in her hands!  
Following Kaydaana's battle cry, she pulled the triggers. Combined fire of prismatic laser beams and hails of carbonized rounds rained downwards. Stupidly but expectable, two of the three pirates performed a 180° turn in order to continue their pursuit while the third performed a large curve.  
Again, the laser beams proved their usefulness. The two pirate ships suffered continual hits to their bow, causing some of their armaments and systems to malfunction. Both pirates returned fire upon the Tristan above but its hail of fire gave it the upper hand. Missiles from the pirates either dumb-fired or were immediately destroyed due to the loss of the guidance arrays and the barrage.  
The barrels of the Gatling Autocannon continuously spun and fired streams of rounds along with beams. With each second, the hail of rounds tore the frontal armor of the foes as they continued their approach. Dodging their return fire, the Tristan engaged brief bursts of its maneuvering thrusters, allowing swift strafing and evasion. The last hits devastated the two pirate frigates. Tsuji cheered, but just as she rejoiced, she spotted the third pirate ship curving in for them.  
"LOOK OUT!"  
"CRAP! Hang on!"  
This was not good! Two smoke trails suddenly hurried ahead of the third pirate… missiles!  
"B-Bulk the turrets!", Kaydaana ordered.  
"Bulk?!"  
"Damn it, disengage them! Store them! Hurry!"  
After the brief argument, Kaydaana was now forced to rely on one of the defensive specialties of the Tristan. She cursed loudly as the basic warning tones became intensively. There was no time to elude those missiles. This somewhat chubby frigate simply was not agile enough. Nonetheless, Kaydaana knew that even the oldest Tristan had a definite aspect to its advantage: The hulking shield barriers upon dorsal arcs! Giving instructions to the nervous young woman behind her, the Tristan rearranged its upper barrier wing to the side of the turret mount, offering an effective wall of thick cover for both mount and the main body of the ship.  
Blindly engaging a strafing getaway, the Tristan dashed to its side as the missiles followed them - The strikes took place just a moment later. One of the missiles exploded at the utmost proximity... luckily. The second one proved to be a more violent encounter. The impact was unbelievably powerful - So powerful that Kaydaana's shoulder knocked against the side despite the shock-absorptive fluid. The pain struck her side like a knife, causing her to cry painfully. Electromagnetic discharges whipped upon the shield and specific areas of the gallentean frigate. Both had to be thankful for their bulky protective neck harnessers. Disorientated by pain and the intensive impact, the Matari mindlessly let go of the left controls as her hand embraced the bulky shoulder region.  
Momentum and inertia ruthlessly tortured both women as the Tristan began to spin uncontrollably. Tsuji begged Kaydaana to come back to her senses. Without primary controls, the gallentean woman had no chance in stabilizing the spin too soon but she did what she could.  
Another alert sound! But this time, it was a different one! However, Tsuji had no idea what it meant, but at least Kaydaana woke up from her dazed confusion. After her senses returned to reality, Kaydaana barely managed to grab the controls and end the spin - The Tristan still drifted backwards.  
Looking beyond her left shoulder, Tsuji suddenly shrieked, "N-Napenthae! We are about to collide with it! *egad*" - That sound was a collision alert.  
Cursing like never before, Kaydaana engaged all stabilizers and vernier thruster controls, praying the frigate would catch drift before it was too late.

Several bridge members shouted and warned that the frigate was coming in right on the broadside of the industrial vessel.

Blasting all thrusters, the Tristan barely caught itself - Barely 200 meters before the outer layers of the Napenthae. Oh no, another pair of missiles! Aftermaths of the two missile explosions still affected the screens, making it impossible to target the dangers or distinguish just about anything. However, since the missiles were fired at high speeds, both engaged wider curves. Calculating their flight paths by heart, Kaydaana suddenly understood that the damn pirate was way too fast and that he fired them improperly! Knowing that those missiles would curve and miss them, she suddenly adjusted the frontal arc of the Tristan to a specific position far before the pirate.  
The screen fuzzed many times, but at least the range finder and its analytic trajectory array were still operational. It was a high-risk gamble to rely on the rocket launcher - but if one thing was for sure, that damn pirate was not expecting this flanking attack! He was definitely sure that the EM-missiles did their job and crippled the Tristan! But due to the spite of arrogance led by his optimistic assumption, the pirate ultimately underestimated the Tristan. Instead of stopping his flight, the pirate frigate maintained its high speed and was about to dash past the far side of the Napenthae.

The rockets set their fuse charges respectively to the optimal moment; the launcher itself engaged trajectory corrections - at least to the point that the erratic hail would field much coverage.  
"SEE YOU IN HELL - PUNK!", the Matari woman yelled over the comm-lines and pulled the trigger.  
Rapid launches of dumb-fire rockets rocked the pod. Within seconds the field of rockets met the desired location with pirate and exploded; their flechette warheads sprayed clouds of deadly shrapnel and projectiles. Without warning or any chance of elusion, the swift pirate ship dashed simultaneously through the spraying fields. Myriads of pieces and debris scattered to all directions as it was punctured.  
"Damn! It's still there!", Kaydaana cursed but then, her eyes widened, "huh?"  
The pirate frigate continued its straight-line flight. Both of their heads followed the ship's movement straight ahead. Kaydaana angled the Tristan so its upper barrier wing could repel possible impacts of high velocity spikes. The pirate continued his upward flight as it left the shrouds of destruction.  
Tsuji's view desperately followed its flight, "W-Where is he flying?! He might strike from above again!"  
For a change, that woman behind was right. He was probably going to perform a 180° spin and align his launchers - This time in a more skillful aim. Surprisingly, the ship flew forth…  
Kaydaana moved her bulky torso upon her seat.  
"What's wrong?!"  
"Forget about that pirate. Whoa, those Phalanx rockets are effective… I don't care - guess he's going to fly on never come back! He's dead, Tsuji. Now let's -- *!*", Kaydaana's eyes suddenly widened as several hypersonic shots missed them, followed by pieces of debris spraying across the sides of the Tristan. Hundreds of pieces were thrown across their adjacency.  
_Oh no… The interceptor and the cruiser have engaged them_!  
Having a clearer view after the screens adjusted themselves, Kaydaana tried to align the turrets after Tsuji redeployed them. Impossible - How were they supposed to survive this? The interceptor was far too small and agile. Kaydaana fret. The turrets were definitely inaccurate for this job - if not, too sluggish. Of course, she could try to adjust the trajectories, but rapid fire would make it impossible to hit such a small target.  
_Wait… Maybe the Railgun could do the job_?!, Kaydaana asked herself anxiously. She thought about it. While it had sluggish tracking, the interceptor was striding away at blinding speed and was by now some thirty klicks away, meaning a perfect distance. Aimed correctly, the hybrid charge could possibly land a hit due to its equally blinding speed!  
"Tsuji! Disengage the lasers! Charge the Railgun! I know I can shoot him down!", Kaydaana victoriously commented, but noticed that nothing was happening, "Tsuji! Com' on, you nut head! DO IT!"  
The head of the Matari frequently moved back and forth between the status screens and the dangers beyond. The Railgun was still inactive. Power was not diverted to it as instructed. _What is wrong with that woman_?! The Matari heard the gallentean woman stuttering frightfully, barely able to say anything other than hinting her to look to their side. Noticing several moments, Kaydaana slowly turned her head to the side and spotted the reason of Tsuji's stunning panic. Tsuji trembled and tried to cower, but the suit hindered her. The sight was dreadful.  
"Oh my… god…", Tsuji's voice whispered.  
People… So many people. Amidst the crystallized gases, numerous bodies rotated and drifted into the open. Many still moved, wove their arms for mercy, some fretfully tried to hold on anything as they drifted into the open. One of them even bounced against the side of the Tristan. Screams… Silent screams. Their mouths moved but the embrace of space robbed them of everything.  
"D-Do something - Save them! They are dying! Please - Help them!", the naïve gallentean begged.  
There was nothing anybody could do.

Perfect shot. Corpses bled from the ruptured hull. The pirate leader flew his interceptor away from the industrial ship and circled the pirate cruiser.  
""Boss"", one of the subordinates of his pirate faction said over the comm-line.  
""What is it?!""  
""Looks like we've got company. They're almost here - Emergin' in a minute or two!""  
""Ah. So they were coming here after all. Good thing we infiltrated their command.""  
""Boss, it's a small fleet. We lost the other boys, we shouldn't take on them and --""  
""Shut up! They can't harm us. I know what their fleet is made of.""  
The man then sensed the predictable hostile attacker engaging his side, hurling gunfire as it dared its pursuit.  
_Useless_.

Kaydaana engaged the interceptor. Unfortunately, her rage caused by the deaths forced blinded her common sense and tactical thought. It was a mindless act. The Autocannon fired endlessly along with laser beams unsteadily trying to hit the agile interceptor. It dodged at the unbelievable strike prediction.

The pirate leader smirked. He sensed the rage. The Tristan that chased him however had not the slightest chance to hit. Implants and chemical injections heightened all of his senses. His reactions were lightening fast, along with the capabilities of almost seeing every beam and round of ammunition floating past him. As he was pursued, the pirate leader soon understood that this was not some gallentean. Yes, they were reckless ones, but this pilot once proved some tactical thought before enraging to a blind beast.

_HOW COULD IT BE?!_ Kaydaana yelled at herself as she continuously chased the interceptor. But she was losing track with each moment. Each spin and erratic dodge forced the Tristan to adjust, though the adjusting was briefly, it was still a minor time-consuming act each time. Impossible. Kaydaana lost lastly track and was forced to break away. Performing a barrel-roll, she suddenly cursed - _Oh no_, her mind cried. A reckless break-away…

The interceptor immediately spun and aligned its turrets. Knowing the weak points of the Tristan that merely offered its rear arcs, the interceptor soon fired several shots with deadly accuracy.

Both women cried as the Tristan jolted. One of the weapon pylons shattered and exploded. The Railgun and the rocket launcher was no more. Several interfaces fuzzed as further impacts smacked into the rear compartment of the battered frigate.

Pure horror echoed across the bridge of the Napenthae as they observed its rear arc suffering hits, exploding and lastly leaving trails of smoke and parts. Losing its maneuvering profile, the Tristan began to do awkward movements. Vernier thrusters sporadically fired on and off. What as that pilot doing? Was it some tactic of hers? Suddenly understanding the inevitable truth, they all understood that the Tristan was malfunctioning and flying out of control.  
The pirate interceptor orbited the Napenthae and the swirling Tristan that was about to crash upon it. Shortly catching the tailspin, the Tristan unsuccessfully attempted to surprise the pursuer with blind shots of laser beams. Turret kept cycling the beams but never landed a hit. It was trying to do the impossible. Punishing the poor frigate, the pirate interceptor landed several hits upon the frontal arc. Particles sliced through the hull of the Tristan the moment it decelerated and roughly landed upon the Napenthae's dorsal region - luckily caught by an array in the way.  
The interceptor now flew another curve and slowed its flight to a vigilant drift high above the vessel and the more or less incapacitated frigate. Many sets of the Tristan's vernier thrusters failed to react or simply sputtered and sparked.  
Many bridge operatives dropped their shoulders as they observed their last hope bleeding fluids, sparks and smokes from its hits. The last hope no longer had the power to continue the fight. The Tristan failed to protect the Napenthae. Their fate was sealed… when suddenly… A set of sounds occurred on every ship.  
Even the pirate interceptor sensed the happenings. It hesitated but did not intend to flee.  
_They have arrived, but the pirate leader knew they would not stand a chance. His face formed a hideous smile._

***

**Part 3 - Sundown**

Several vessels appeared. Amidst the group, the greatest of all shimmered silvery and jade-green tones. The primary vessel of the flotilla was like nothing ever seen before.

_The rumble ended._  
The spacious bridge command center with a strange pod at the rear section retained full power. All stations came to life.  
"Report", the cold voice of a woman demanded.  
"Warp jump complete. We have arrived at the rim of Heydieles Star System", the navigation officer announced, "Commander, our emergence point is off-course. Our flotilla is approximately 120km away from the Cascade Transport vessel, _Napenthae_. Apparently, Ma'am, our jump had noticeable deviation. "

"I am sorry…", a soft voice of a girl hummed from the pod behind.  
"It's okay, Aira", the female Commander-in-Chief said, "You did your best. Thank you for bringing us here."

Another operative turned around, "All accompanying units of our flotilla show status green. They are standing by, Ma'am."  
"Tactical Command online", the voice of Commanding Officer called over the commline from a different location of the bridge, "It seems we are late. Basic scans show that the Napenthae is seriously damaged and is being harassed by an unidentified cruiser and an interceptor. I am also detecting a severely damage 'Tristan' frigate right on top of that hull."  
"Is it _her_?!", somebody else nervously asked.  
"We'll see, but I'm guessing that… Yeah, yeah definitely that's her! No idea how that woman managed to get into one - but it looks like she needs help!", the Commanding Officer replied, "But we're too far away. The hostiles are far beyond the optimal range of our anti-frigate weaponry - and I doubt we can fire our Railgun artillery units!"  
"Commander", the engineering operative added lastly, "As Commander Nabaal mentioned, we cannot count on the Heavy Railgun Turrets, Ma'am. The sabotage act of that spy has blown the various conduits. Damage Control strictly advises not to deploy Railguns as the loss of conduits would cause the capacitor to discharge."  
"Aside to the fact that the inaccuracies at this range could hit the Napenthae", Orelis Nabaal noted, "Not good."  
Shortly after, other voices linked into the communication frequency set by the communication operative, Kelsea Amaj, "Ma'am, units responding. Linking them through."  
""Chief Astrogation Officers Kenta and Quan Amaj of the 'Probe' frigate - _Phenlo_ - here, all clear. Out.""  
""Vayn here, Wolfgirl - Waiting here stuck on your hull. Um… out.""  
Just as the Matari man ended his rather short report, a surprisingly bubbly and delightful voice of a young Gallente woman sounded from the bridge's speakers, ""Hellooooo, VJ ! Hey, how's it gooo-in', friends? Chief Logistics Officer Deena Amaj of the 'Scimitar' Logistics Cruiser - _Countess_ - right next to ya, Boss, and ready for fun!""  
Orelis sighed.

The female Commander arranged the collar of her uniform before giving out her next command, "Understood. All units, standby. As of now, our objective is to protect and support the Napenthae and the Tristan frigate at all costs. Unfortunately, our capabilities are limited. The saboteur has managed to cause much damage to our engineering segments. But that will not stop us. We must focus on the situation and the rescue of our allies. I require all of you to do as I say or neither the Napenthae nor our friend onboard the Tristan will survive."  
"R-Right away, Commander", Kelsea confirmed.  
The female officer raised herself from the seat. The appearance of the woman revealed the rough guess of her age being somewhere around her mid-30s. She had black hair that went wildly to the shoulders, a badge that covered one of her blue eyes with the stinging gaze, and wore a naval uniform with both Gallente and Caldari insignias and a holstered special issue service pistol.

The demanding voice of the superior officer spoke over the open frequency, ""I am Commander Hailynn Delixa of the Vjel-Amaj, serving the pride of the Kiith Gallentis. Attention pirates, despite your acts against humanity, I am giving you the chance to flee with your lives. I demand you to remove yourself from this sector at once! Continue your assault and you will be destroyed!""

While listening to the open broadcast, Kaydaana raised her head and stuttered, "H-Hailey, you - here?!"  
Tsuji mumbled as she slowly awoke from her unconsciousness - then a painful exhale.  
"Hang in there, Tsuji… Help is coming… I hope."

Laughter suddenly sounded over the frequency. The laughter went on for several seconds until the man calmed down to seriousness, ""Foolish woman… Well, well… I am amazed. The _Galdari_ Bastard child, commanding the equal abomination of the Vjel-Amaj. I'd never thought to see you here"", the pirate leader said and chuckled again, ""Typical for you freelancers. Prancing about and attempting to bluff your way through. Stupid woman - I am aware of your status. I am aware that your ship is in serious trouble.""

Kelsea shortly gazed upon heroic commander. Indeed, Hailynn was a child of two worlds alike the vessel she commanded. Alike the Vjel-Amaj, it being a stunning generation of technologies and designs crossed between the Caldari supremacy and the Gallente pride, the so-called 'Galdari' was a born child of a Caldari captain, the father, and a Gallente freedom fighter, her mother. The vessel revealed the fuselages of a Hyperion and a Rokh, but also with foreign technologies. Hailynn grew to become one of the lead personas of an independent Gallente corporation and a Minmatar clan. Her persona, despite her flaws, have brought vigilance and security to those who have decided to join the Kiith Amaj. Despite the heroism, EVE remained a dangerous place.  
Suddenly, Hailynn approached the young communication operative and demanded her to record several specific messages for her to dispatch covertly. Confirming one more event, Kelsea assured her that the Matari man called Vayn has begun his part of her order.  
Luckily, the pirate continued his blabbering speech, not knowing what was going on.

""Just as I thought"", Hailynn replied with a cold tone, ""Let's have it your way. I don't care who you are, pirate, but I know that one spy of your cartels have managed to infiltrate my ship. Yes, it is true. He did succeed. Yes, he managed to cripple our ship of its long range capabilities and power allocation units.""

_What was she doing_?!, many asked themselves. She was revealing secrets. Though the pirate knew of it, the female commander revealed more of secrets and situational things that were intensifying their disadvantages! _Was she insane_?!  
But as the pirate replied and spoke forth, Kelsea confirmed that her orders were covertly dispatched. She also demanded her to assure the Napenthae that they were here to help and that they were to stay out of the conversation. Meanwhile, the flotilla began to conduct her desperate orders.

"""Mu-da-da!"", the pirate barked, ""Wise woman. Those foolish cannons would destroy this foolish industrial vessel. You wouldn't be able to hit a thing being so far away, you mutt. Even if you would attempt to fire, I know power would fail the moment you'd induce those abnormal Railguns"", insults fell with ease as he spoke on, ""Typical…""

"Aira."  
"Yes, my Naji?", the soft voice of amarrian girl in the pod replied.  
"Please, Aira, support the 'Phenlo' on their task. Do the best you can to boost both of our sensorial reach to maximum effectiveness."  
"With all my soul, Naji", the adolescent girl replied and devoted herself to the will of her caretaker.

At the same time, Hailynn turned away and looked upon the screens that revealed the adjacency. She pinched her eyes. Spotting various groups of intelligent drones transporting several hulking modules from the Scimitar cruiser, Hailynn hoped that the desired orders and modifications would be done on time. The Galdari woman however also knew that if they would tally too long or prove to be a serious threat to the pirate leader, he would definitely call a massive load of reinforcements.

""Forget about the spy, pirate. I convicted him... personally.""  
""I could care less about him or those who were killed just before you came. That infiltrator wasn't even part of my cartel.""

"W-What did all that mean", Tsuji curiously asked as she did not comprehend a single thing.  
However, Kaydaana understood each word. Amazing how that foolish girl she nicknamed 'Old Lady Hailey' managed to speak in the tribal Matari dialect that surely anybody but them could understand. Hailynn spoke of a desperate task… a favor… a serious favor that needed to be done for the sake of all lives.  
"Tsuji…"  
"Ye-Yes, miss?"  
"Get ready and hang tight. This could get **very ugly**…"  
The gallentean woman gulped.

As long moments went by, the dialog between the Galdari Commander of the Kiith Amaj and the pirate of the cartels soon became a harsh exchange of insults, arrogance, arbitrariness and blaring speeches of power and idealism. The pirate revealed that 'something big' was going on and that there was no way the foolish weaklings of the region could stop them. But as this 'smacktalk' took place, Hailynn's Right Hand, Commander Orelis Nabaal, soon understood that she was playing a hideous trick on this guy. She was not only buying time; she was doing psychological warfare on the pirate! It all made sense the moment confirmations came from several units of her Master Plan…  
The pirate leader suddenly ended his speech as he was informed about a serious happening, ""Ah… What is this… A 'PROBE'?""  
Orelis smacked his forehead gently and cursed. The Probe 'Phenlo' has been detected by them.  
""What is this about, Commander… So you really are trying to align those Large Turrets to my interceptor? *Laughs* I should have known. Aha… Covertly trying to strengthen your scan resolutions… Well, woman. Forget about it. Have you never heard of signature radius? Must I explain this to a former officer of the Gallente Navy?!""

_Just keep talking, punk…_, Hailynn thought.  
""Boss. Baawwwwss ""  
"Go ahead, Chief."  
"" Modificationas dun, boss!"", the delightful Gallentean woman showed a thumbs up from the screen, ""Just make sure you - umm, do it right, mkay?""  
"Roger. Thanks, Deena."  
""Sure thing! Make us proud!""  
_It's all in your hands, Vayn… and Kaydaana. I'm counting on both of you…_

""I suppose I should slaughter these people after all for your --"", the pirate leader suddenly became aware of a selfish assault.  
The severely damaged Tristan engaged a desperate attack that was all but a successful surprise. Long before the Tristan even dared to align its remaining weapon mount, the poor frigate succumbed to the superiority of the interceptor's agility. The pirate leader could not figure if it was senseless rage or such heroic nonsense. Nevertheless, whoever that pilot was possessed the virtue of sacrificing his or her life - stupidly.  
Kaydaana's wrist turned and moved maniacally as beams and rounds kept firing. Tsuji begged her to stop her frenzy but she was simply out of her mind. The frequency crystal was nearing its critical peak of shattering… but she kept on going.  
"Wish this stupid pile of antique had i-stabs!", the Matari barked. Tsuji did not understand a single bit of the slang she frequently spoke of - From i-stabs to many other wild terms.  
The interceptor engaged dodgy rolls as it flew reversely with high speeds. It evaded every single round of slugs and beams of energy that fired rapidly from the Tristan's combined mount. The whole chase was simply mindless as the interceptor played with its pray. The pirate even demanded the heavy cruiser to stay out of this play. After a very long game of cat and mouse, the interceptor instantly made short work out of its lagging pursuer.

The bridge crew of Napenthae witnessed the sole Tristan suffering hits like never before. Continuous fire of particles punctured the gallentean frigate as if it were nothing, piercing holes from side to another; each hit even started to push it back from where it came from! Many exclaimed and were shocked of the desperate event.

The Tristan remained a mutilated hulk that drifted away from interceptor. The pirate leader smiled victoriously but soon sensed dangers emitting from the sensitive implants and sensory units. The 'Probe' and the Vjel-Amaj have focused their guidance systems on his ship. Nevertheless, he did not care at all. There was no way they could hit his nimble interceptor. It was practically impossible; there was not a single chance that those hulking power-hungry particle turrets could fire. A ship-wide blackout would certainly result once they would be charge their rails.  
He shook his head one more time and laughed. His signature radius was unbelievably small. Despite their desperate attempts of boosting their optimal range resolution, they could never achieve such an accuracy. Not even luck could help. Hybrid particles became instable over a period of time, causing them to engage awkward trajectories once the optimal range was exceeded. But suddenly, his systems revealed the alignment of turrets after all.

The unusually huge turrets upon the hull of Vjel-Amaj slowly aligned themselves as the Scimitar cruiser and its drones slowly moved away together with its loads of drones, all carrying the Large Hybrid Turrets that were once attached to the vessel's hardpoints.

""What is this all about, you Galdari slut!""  
""What's wrong, pirate?"", Hailynn replied, without a note of emotion, ""Becoming anxious?""  
""Don't even try it! You whore! You'd only hit that stupid indus--"", the pirate leader suddenly noticed that while he enjoyed tearing the Tristan to pieces, he had not noticed that he drifted far away from the industrial vessel. He was exposed into the opening of space without the Napenthae as hostage. But the man did not fret at all, ""I see… The Tristan did this… Delixa - Forget about it - There is absolutely no way you could hit this interceptor! Those Hybrid Railguns are going to surge your power plants!"", he barked ferociously.  
""_Which 'hybrid turrets' are you referring to_?""  
The pirate leader startled the moment the cruiser updated him. Apparently, the unusual Gallente cruiser known as Vjel-Amaj no longer carried the Large Hybrid Turrets but now fielded a small row of Heavy Artillery Turrets… Projectile Technology… Minmatar style.

_Vayn, hurry, I'm counting on you!_, Hailynn's thoughts desperately prayed. Despite her coolness, sweat formed upon the side of her forehead.

The pirate's suddenly combined his thoughts. The Gallente weaklings somehow managed to swap their turrets. Even more, the Projectile Turrets were independent of power! But he still smiled. No. He did not panic. They could never hit him!  
""Hmm. Nice tactic of swapping to antique cannons in order to become independent of power, Delixa. I see, you do have some sense of a pirate in your blood after all… but as I said long before. You still think like a foolish officer who believes to know everything about combat. I am still here. I am the one laughing… not you. Nice try but --""

"**Commander! Vayn CONFIRMES he has reached the edge of his optimal range and that he's in position**!", Kelsea suddenly cried!  
Hailynn's voice instantly burst into a loud shout, "Deena! CONDUCT TRACKING LINKS!"  
"Hittin' it, boss! ", Deena proudly confirmed. The 'Countess' Scimitar soon supported the tracking systems of the Minmatar turrets with great effectiveness, followed by the additional support of the Probe and being within the pod of the Vjel-Amaj.

""-- you will never succeed.""  
""_Wrong_"", another unfamiliar voice suddenly mentioned, ""You're not the one laughing here, punk.""  
_Who the hell was that_?!  
"**W-Who are you**?!", the pirate leader ferociously demanded.  
""Oh… me? They call me 'Vayn' - Just a rascal… who is laughing at you like a crazed _hyena_.""  
"What are you talking --", suddenly, several thick red dots guided by thick red beams of light marked the side of his interceptor, ""about?!""  
""_Yip yip yip yip_"", Vayn said lastly.  
The pirate leader's eyes widened as he spotted his implants and sensorial array identifying the frigate that had covertly appeared at least another 70 kilometers away… An awkward-looking, horizontally-built frigate… A Minmatar Electronic Attack Ship… _A Hyena_ - painting his interceptor with various numbers of overpowered guidance laser beams.

The signature radius of interceptor virtually widened to a massive dot, instantly allowing all guidance and trajectory calculations to adjust to near-to-perfect values. All turrets focused their aims.  
"All turrets! **FIRE**!", Hailynn's voice blared across the bridge!  
"FIRE - FIRE!", Orelis instantly followed up to the fire control operations!

The pirate leader petrified as flashes of the cannonade occurred from afar. He only needed to move his interceptor, but he simply froze. His body did not react. _D-D…Damn you… You GALDARI BIT-_  
Violent impacts shattered the interceptor within a single moment. It spun only a single degree until the secondary hits smashed what was left up it. The explosion deformed and whipped uncontrollably -- and then, emptiness… as if it never existed.

Pure astonishment startled all crews… even the one of the pirate cruiser.  
""Don't you dare call in reinforcements… Attempt to escape and you will be destroyed, pirate cruiser. Any attempts of calling in reinforcements and we WILL kill you. Disengage all of your systems or you will be destroyed. _Need I to __**repeat**__ myself_!"", the cold-blooded Galdari Commander demanded, referring to the same treacherous barrage.  
No chance. By the time the cruiser would end its warp-scrambling bubble effect, they would be deadmeat. There was simply too much time for the Vjel-Amaj to charge another round for its hulking howitzers of death. Hailynn gave them enough time to think about it.

""A-Attention, Gallente Fleet.""  
""We are listening.""  
""Do not engage. We are standing down. We… surrender.""  
""So, some of you pirates do have rationality. Jettison all turret units at once and decouple all warp core conduits. We will approach your ship and board your vessel. Don't attempt anything stupid either. We are even able to detect self-destruct procedures. Do so and we will _speed the process_. You will be arrest and brought to interrogation. Salvage corvette drones will assure that you won't get away. Cooperate and we may… _spare all of you_ if we hear what we wish to hear. Do we understand ourselves?"", the woman left them with no options but to surrender… termless.  
""Understood. We surrender… unconditionally. D-Do not fire.""  
""Fine. Standby.""

"Security", Orelis said into his shoulder-mounted communication unit, "Marine teams to combat deployment."  
As the second-in-command conducted orders, the entire bridge emoted a wave of relief.  
"Tell all units of the fleet that they have done extraordinary work, Orelis, and that all of you have made me proud", Hailynn suddenly fell upon her commanding seat, "Notify the Napenthae that we are sending them help. Dispatch supportive drones at once. We must recover whatever is out there."  
"Right away, Commander", the man smiled.  
"A-Are you alright, Ma'am?", one of the female operatives asked.  
"It was a good thing we were not forced to fire again."  
"W-Why do you say such, ma'am?"

Hailynn only looked towards the status screen above and further away. The turret units frequently blinked a specific symbol. The lack of replacement shells.  
""Hey, Wolfgirl - Can you hear me?"", Vayn's voice sounded over the speaker.  
"Yeah, hey there, bonehead… Thanks man."  
"Any time. Could you do me a favor and pick me up? Those overloaded target-painters fried the power plant of this Hyena…"  
"We're on it."

The Tristan slowly drifted towards the Napenthae. Smoking and crippled to a deformed mess full of punctured parts and segments.  
""Honey. Can you hear me? Are you still alive? Com' on - Kaydee - Come back. Kaydee, can you hear me, come back… Kaydee… come back"", Vayn's voice frequently fuzzed.  
The Matari woman hummed painfully.  
"M-Miss, the man is calling for you."  
Kaydaana hummed painfully once more but then smiled, "I know…"

-= The End =-


End file.
